Our sweet Emma is celebrating her high school graduation this weekend and Dan and I are in Northwest Arkansas to cheer her on. Matt and Murphy and their cousins from my side have gotten together each summer for quite awhile now and this year they chose to work their reunion around Emma’s accomplishment just like they did for Levi two years ago. Emma, for those of you out of the cousin loop, is my sister Cyd’s second grandchild, her son Ben’s daughter, and Levi’s sister. Got it?

Dan and I got in Thurday night along with Matt and Emily and Dan’s sister and brother-in-law, Deb and Tom, honorary aunt and uncle of the highest order to my Arkansas nieces and nephews. Murphy arrived Friday morning without his sweet sidekick, Josie, who is with her family celebrating her brother’s new PhD.

Friday was pure fun. Dan and I spent most of the morning visiting and laughing with Mother, Deb, Tom, and Cyd. Mother, now 92, told a couple of funny jokes. We all cracked up when she said, “Have you heard the one about Hitler?” She actually did have a Hitler joke. We all headed to JR [Cyd’s son/Ben’s twin] and Heather’s around noon where we spent a fun afternoon just hanging out, playing knockout [a basketball elimination game], visiting, and eating. JR and Heather’s daughter Lexi, an eighth grader next year, attended her first boy-girl school dance and we all took her picture and saw her off. It was such an enjoyable day with this roudy, fun, up for anything group. I might toss in that I won ONE round of knockout out of the zillions of rounds we played. Matt ruled.

Saturday, graduation day, turned out perfect. Graduation was at two in the afternoon on the athletic field at the high school. Our group of about 35 cheered for Emma and took loads of videos and pictures. Rain was predicted but a brisk breeze sent the clouds the other way and the ceremony went on as planned. Ben and his wife Terrie organized a fun family party at the church that Emma attends. How cool that she had two great grandmas there, two grandmas, and one grandpa! Terrie’s side of the family decorated the huge party room so cute and had everything set up when we arrived. A highlight was the video of Emma’s life that showed her and all of us through the last 18 years. We laughed, oohed, and awed from beginning to end. There might have been a tear or two. Hoot of the day went to the wall-of-frames. Ben and his nicer than nice father-in-law, Lynn, had built a portable wall with four empty/cut out frames that we stuck our heads through for goofy portraits. Things got silly right away and we laughed and egged each other on shamelessly. There was a jar for us to share our words of wisdom. Emma got very sweet bits of advice, serious life strategies, and then the always useful ‘floss everyday’ along with ‘wear flip flops in the dorm shower.’ Cyd, Dan, and I took Mother home around 10:00 when all the cousins headed back to Ben and Terrie’s to party on.

Today, Sunday, is wind down day with people going all different directions. Having to get back to the business of making a living, Dan flew this morning; Matt and Emily will follow early this afternoon.

Emma, who turns 18 today, and one of her besties, Mikhalea, will head to Memphis with (Auntie) Deb and (Uncle) Tom right after church this morning. They will drop Tom off at home, stay the night, and then head to the beach for a week with Deb and a good friend of hers. This is all in the tradition of Deb’s Camp, now in its fourth year, which Deb and Tom have relished just as much as Emma and Mikhalea. Is there any question why Deb and Tom have the status of honorary aunt and uncle of the highest order?

Murphy and I are not that easy to get rid of. Murf leaves tomorrow afternoon, so we can all play with him for another day and a half, and these Arkansans are stuck with me until Wednesday. I’m staying on to celebrate Cyd’s 68th on Tuesday and to spend a little extra time with Mother. Hopefully she has not run out of jokes.

Sunday was one of those long but perfect travel days when everything goes like clockwork and you decide long distance travel is actually quite easy. Exhausting maybe, but easy. Up at 5:30 for the quick, no traffic ride to the airport. The hour and a half flight to Barcelona on Vueling Airlines was on time and uneventful. We claimed our bags and checked in with Lufthansa for our hour and 45 minute flight to Munich which was, of course, smooth. We had just enough time to find our connecting flight and board for the seven and a half hours remaining of the trip. Boom! We got home 21 hours after we woke up. ALL that distance in 21 hours. Amazing really.

Random comment #1: We loved how Salve used the word delicious. When speaking of the hot weather in Key West in July, he said, “Once I got acclimated, it was delicious.” He loves potato tortilla and said it is delicious. Hitting a golf ball just right is delicious also. 🙂

Random comment #2: Spanish Spanish in contrast to Central and South American Spanish sounds a bit like one has a lisp (as in: lithp). Zero = the-ro. Espagne = Ethpanya. Sometimes it made us giggle.

Random fact #3: Pepper shakers are not on the table. Salt yes, pepper no.

Random fact #4: It has to be white asparagus season because we had it as part of three meals on board Lufthansa. We like it thank heaven, so it was a treat. It never sees the light of day (hence the lack of color) and is very tender even when the stalks are thick.

I arrived home to what else but a Mothers Day package waiting from Matt & Emily and Murphy & Josie + text messages and voice-mails! Dan had a totally funny card for me that he had surprised me with earlier in the day. It had to do with three sun bathing/baking potatoes–a mom and two kids. The mom warned the kids to stick themselves with a fork so they wouldn’t explode.

Stick a fork in a terrific Adventure #7.

After our relaxed breakfast of toast and coffee, we set out to see Dan’s last requests. First stop was the Air Force housing area where Dan and Jane lived. The area was privatized years ago which means all the houses now have tall walls around them as is the custom here. We saw their school and they enjoyed pointing out where friends lived. The area used to be in a totally undeveloped side of town next to cotton fields but is now all built up and unrecognizable to Dan. Jane remembered that gypsies came to harvest the cotton. When the harvest was getting close the military families were told not to leave clothes on the clothes line or they would disappear.

Next we were off to see more sites, but first a stop for churros and hot chocolate. Think delicious brownie in a cup. In no particular order, we walked narrow streets, visited the river front with its generous pedestrian area which was near, by Jane’s design, the bull ring which dates back to the mid 1700s. The very same bull ring where Dan and I attended fights the last time we were in Seville … another story altogether. Anyway, the t word was uttered so, of course, I was on board with waiting the 20 minutes. The tour took us inside to see the ring, the chapel, the stables, and a small museum. The whole complex was meticulous and freshly painted, no doubt in part because the season was just starting, We also visited the cathedral which is breathtaking with all the gold and silver. Interestingly it was built as a mosque in the late 1100s and consecrated as a cathedral in 1248. Construction, renovations, etc. in the last 500 years have it looking the way it does today, which is stunning. The tomb of Christopher Columbus is inside. Our last stop was the Basilica of the Macarena which boasts the most revered image in all of Seville–the Virgin of Hope, or La Macarena, the patron saint of bull fighters and a favorite of gypsies. She is wearing magnificent brocade robes and has a huge ‘halo’ made of what looks like gold. Stunning!

In contrast to the old, we visited the highly controversial and ultra modern Metropol Parasol which is an undulating walkway on top of what look like mushrooms. A tiny bit Gaudi-esque. It gave us great roof-top views of the city landmarks and was undeniably in contract to all the traditional architecture it was nestled in and near.

We had dinner at home. Jane had prepared a potato tortilla, which is a sort of potato fritatta, before we left to see the sights. We had that with the exorbitantly priced ham, sliced razor thin, I mentioned previously (which is amazing), huge white asparagus, marinated carrots, and pork loin. It was all delicious and made for a wonderful farewell dinner.

This has been a walk down memory lane for two best friends from back in the 60s. Fun to hear Dan’s and Jane’s stories, walk the streets, and see Dan’s favorite places. Although he was only a kid at the time (8th-11th grades), Seville holds so many happy memories for him and his family. It’s been a great end to our trip.

Once summer sets in, it will be extremely hot here, but now is perfect with the rains over, flowers in bloom, and soft breezes. Jane and Salva’s home is in the suburbs in a quiet neighborhood. It seems like being at a small boutique hotel with the second floor all to ourselves.

This is the life! We did not come down until after nine this morning. Salva had made a bread run and had two warm loaves waiting for us. That with butter and jam + coffee and juice was our breakfast.

Around noon we made our way to the subway for the quick ride downtown. Jane was a terrific tour guide and explained all the wonderful things we saw, a lot of which was heavily influenced by the Moors (from Morocco) when they invaded and ruled the area. Other landmarks, built for the Worlds Fair in the 1920s, had a totally different look. No matter what we were looking at, tile, plaster, and intricately carved wood figured predominately and had a dazzlingly effect.

We took a break for an el fresco lunch and later had tea at a beautiful hotel. Jane stopped on the way home to buy some Iberian ham which is an ultra expensive delicacy that is sliced paper thin with a special knife. We will save it for tomorrow since we are still full from our fancy tea.

I have fallen in love with the carriage horses here. They have Arabian blood and prance gracefully … seemingly with pride in doing such a good job.

We got home just before nine, about a half hour before sunset, mellow from the fun day.

A couple of juicy tidbits before we leave Catalonia:

Leni, please tell George he is not only famous in the UK (the prince being his namesake and all), he is The Man here also. Along with the Virgin of Monserrat, Saint George is the patron saint of Catalonia.

Murphy, your birthday is celebrated in Catalonia in a Big Way; it is the Day of the Book as well as the Day of the Rose. Seems Saint George turned the blood of a dragon he had just slain into a rose (on April 23rd), so it has become the day of love.

Anyway, we headed to the airport around eight this morning for our 90 minute flight. Uneventful less the unexplained clapping when we landed. The sky was clear and the wind low so no reason I could tell for the spontaneous burst of enthusiasm. We went from the northeast, near France, to the southwest, near Portugal…from Catalonia to Andalusia. It has been 25 years since we visited here last and 16 since we last saw Jane.

Salva and Jane met us at the airport and whisked us off to their home which Salva, an architect, designed and had built 31 years ago. Jane had a delicious baked chicken lunch waiting for us. We spent the afternoon catching up and then took the subway into town for a mini walking tour which was wonderful and a great walk down memory lane for Dan. Home for a late (9:45) dinner.

I kinda dropped the ball on the tourist circuit today. I intended to be first in line for tickets to Sagrada  Familia, Gaudi’s most famous building…a basilica that takes up an entire city block and is currently 100 years in the making. [It is due to be completed in 2026 for the 100th anniversary of his death.] Anyway, I blew that by not getting there until after nine and the line for timed tickets was already around the block. Before Gaudi’s death he commented that people would come from all over the world to see his church which would become the #1 attraction in the city. That is proving to be true. It is an oddly magnetic combination of volcanic eruption meets carnival meets fairy-tale meets grotesque meets religious. Some spires are topped with Carmen Miranda fruit baskets, for example. Worth a Google for sure.

Anyway, I ditched that idea and walked to a combination home and apartment building Gaudi was commissioned to do and is now a USESCO World Heritage Site as well–La Pedrera. I got right in and thoroughly enjoyed the tour. It is 100 years old and weird, wacky, and wonderful like his other commissions. Its undulating front is proof that he was not a fan of straight lines or right angles. Ya don’t find them in nature, so you rarely find them in his work.

By then it was noon and I decided to play like a local and see if the huge department store nearby, El Corte Ingles, had a restaurant. Sure enough, on the top floor overlooking a huge city square. I had the daily special which was grilled fish filet over a bed of potatoes. Very good. Eighteen Euros. I went to an outdoor cafe for coffee and dessert and again, like a local, lingered to rest and read a couple chapters in my book. I can just feel Mary Kay’s and Emily’s approval.

I was tired even though I had hardly done a thing, so I started meandering back to the hotel and totally by chance ran into Palau de la Musica Catalana, a breathtaking 100 year old music hall. An English tour was scheduled in ten minutes. If there is one thing I can’t resist, it’s a tour. WOWza is all I can say. Seats 2,100+ and is decorated in thousands and thousands of shards of broken ceramic. Very beautiful. The architect decided to break from tradition and let light in. Beautiful stained glass windows line both sides of the hall and a huge combo window and light fixture in the form of a sun is on the ceiling. It is a functioning theater today with a full line up of concerts.

All I can say is Barcelona must have been a magnet for surrealist art and architecture at the turn of the 20th century and very open to letting the players of the day have at it. If it’s unusual by today’s standards I can’t imagine how odd it would have seemed back then.

From the theater I continued my stroll back to the hotel stopping to take the occasional picture. I headed straight for the pool for an hour in the sun. After these wonderful few days in and around Barcelona it’s time to pack for our flight tomorrow morning. Dan is pooped so we opted for room service and an early night.

Up and at ’em in time to taxi to the pick-up point with enough to spare to grab a breakfast sandwich and coffee. I can now order both in some mix of Catalan and Spanish. Did I mention the sandwich rolls are crusty on the outside and soft on the inside? Yum.

There were 14 on yesterday’s tour and today four times that number. I had an Irish seat-mate. We zipped right out of town and saw how the other half live … the 1.5+ million who can’t afford to live in the city center or don’t want to. We passed acres and acres of apartment buildings and were soon on the outskirts where fields and forests took over. Very pretty. The speed limit is 100 kilometers/60 MPH. The highways are clean and very well maintained. We headed north toward the Pyrenees Mountains and France.

All the guidebooks say to be extra vigilant of pickpockets here and sure enough a tour group member told us it happened to him on the subway…and he even had his $ in his front pocket. When he got to the police station to report it, there were loads of people there, mostly young people, for the same reason.

First stop: Girona, a city founded by the Romans waaaaaay back in the day. A great local guide showed us around and then we were free to explore. It was built around four rivers (two now dry) and is quaint, beautiful, and well restored. It is known for its Jewish sector and tall, thin townhouses that back up to the river a la Venice and Brugge. Ready for this? The town has an official insect …the fly… and an official animal, the lion. There is an old statue of a lion climbing a pole as you enter town with steps situated so that you can kiss its backside as a sort of guarantee that you will one day return. As if that is not enough local color, there is a mechanical acrobat suspended between two buildings downtown. It honors a guy who was good at cheering people up during the plague. Laughter is the best medicine and all that. Anyway, a few times a day a man comes out on a balcony and manipulates the mechanical acrobat so that it ‘performs’ a few tricks. My timing was perfect and I saw this all firsthand. The 60th annual flower show is next week and workers were all over town getting ready. Besides live plants, craftsmen were building huge floating (no doubt anchored) displays on the river. It must be amazing on opening day. I went in search of a pastry they are known for. I finally gave up and settled for their version of made-on-the-spot twisted mini-churros. A small order was six. I wolfed down three and found a bus driver sharing his meal with an elderly man and explained I had too much weight to lose before seeing Jane on Thursday and would they please take the other three off my hands. They clearly did not catch a word but agreed.

Second stop: Figueres, the birthplace of Salvador Dali, the weird and wacky surrealist artist. You will want to Google him just to see his mustache. All kids would love art if this was their introduction. We were in Figueres to visit the museum (in the restored theater where Dali had his first showing at age 14) he organized to showcase his work. One piece incorporates his Cadillac from his days in the U.S. For a Euro you can make it rain inside the car. What? A huge naked nymph is on top; she has chains leading to a boat atop a stack of tires. Seeing is believing in this case. Dali enjoyed science as well as art and experimented with pixels. One famous painting of a naked woman looking out a window looks like a woman when you look at it but when you photograph it, it looks like …wait for it… Abraham Lincoln. No kidding. Dali and his Russian born wife and muse, Gala, were among the first to use the press to market and brand themselves. Their goal in coming to the States, besides getting out of the conflict in their country, was to become rich and famous and they accomplished this rather quickly. Gala was painted in the nude a whole lot plus loads of other pieces were somewhere between lusty, vulgar and beautiful. Or as Emily likes to say, titillating. Once I had my fill of unusual, funky, freaky, eye catching art, I visited the small display of Dali’s amazing, unique pieces of jewelry. All one of a kind. Google ‘Dali theater museum’ to see the outside with all the Oscar statues and eggs on the roof.

I had about an hour free to roam the cute, small town. Besides enjoying coffee at a sidewalk cafe, I lit a candle for Josie’s beloved Aunt Geri, this time in Esglesia de Sant Pere. The candle was like no other I have seen. Once I put my money in a machine a small LED candle lit up. It will stay lit for the amount of time I purchased, which is a mystery to me. In a way I guess I rented a candle.

On the way back into town today we passed two former bull fighting rings that have been converted to other uses because bull fighting is outlawed in this region as well as the Canary Islands, but not the other regions of Spain. We also passed a guy riding an electric wheel. Think unicycle without the seat and no need to pedal. Wierd. A few adults were using scooters but not the electric ones I described before, these needed to be powered by one leg. There were also lots of bicycles with small wheels…like the ones clowns ride in the circus. These Spaniards seem open minded when it comes to modes of transportation.

Today turned out to be dedicated to dairy: I grabbed a quick ham and cheese sandwich and coffee for breakfast since that was all I recognized at the pop in place by the tour bus stop; cheese was the only thing I recognized at lunch, so I had a cold cheese and tomato sandwich; and for dinner I had sangria and a pizza. Not a piece (or two) of pizza mind you … a pizza. Throw in an ice cream bar and you’ve got yourself some serious dairy.

Today was overcast and in the low 70s so quite a contrast from yesterday. The other contrast was in the form of a 7 am wake-up call. Suffer! I had a tour bus to catch a quick cab ride from the hotel and Dan had meetings to get to. My tour was amazing! First stop was Colonia (accent over the second o) Guell (two dots over the u) about 30 minutes outside of Barcelona. This is what we would call a mix between a planned community and a mill town that was set up in the 1890s. It is referred to here as an industrial colony and this one produced fabric/textiles. There were 1,000 workers, each of whom got a home to rent from the owner of the town. There were schools for the children, a theater, a church, and low and behold jobs for wives. A nunnery was set up so that children could be cared for. Nursing moms could even leave work to feed their babies. A very revolutionary and successful concept.

The church, on the UNESCO World Heritage Site, was designed by Gaudi and is very cool even though only the bottom level, or crypt, was completed before construction funds were diverted in support of  WW I. It is the size of a chapel and Gaudi’s usual combination of Disney, fairy-tale, and whimsical with more than a touch of the unexpected. He experimented with cement and used it for the floor as well as sculpted cement columns. No one is buried there in spite of its name … Crypt of Colonia Guell.

Colonia Guell stopped producing textiles in the 70s and the resident workers had the first opportunity to buy their small homes, which most of them did. It is now a sought after small bedroom community. Anyway, after we walked the small town, visited the museum, and had a sample of cava, sparkling wine from the region, we headed out of town.

Next top: Montserrat Basilica and Monastery. What a stunner this place is! Literally tucked up against the mountain like it has been since its beginnings in the late 800s, it is home to Benedictine Monks and a world renown boys choir and boarding school. Pilgrims who visit can rent small rooms for their stay.

The bus dropped us at the bottom on the hill where we boarded the Rack railway for the five kilometer ride to the monastery. After a quick orientation we were on our own to take it all in. The choir performed two songs at 1:00. The boys are between the ages of eight and 14 and sounded beautiful even though I didn’t understand a word. They were wearing back robes with sleeves with a white robe over top with arm holes but no sleeve. When they held the sheet music and sang their arms showed; when they were not performing, their arms were inside the white over-robe and they seemed to flow as they walked. The choir is 700 years old amazingly. After the concert we had a tour of the school. Musically inclined boys from all over the world can apply but the bridge too far for most is the fact that Catalan is the language used for all of their studies.

The basilica is famous for its black Madonna, patron saint of Catalonia, and people stood in a really long line to approach the beautiful statue and touch or kiss it. Its face and hands, per the tradition of the day, are made out of wood and have turned black over the course of hundreds of years from the varnish, candle smoke, and the environment. There were beautiful niches carved out of the rocks where visitors could light and leave candles. I lit one for Josie’s Aunt Geri. Unusual I thought were the gorgeous hanging lanterns that looked very Moorish less the one made with short horns. Some had fobs hanging from the bottom. I decided the one with the rooster fob was in honor of Cleone’s grandparents. The other thing I’ve never seen was the room where people came to leave small tokens along with their prayers for something upcoming. There were dresses, toys, pictures, a prosthetic leg, hiking boots, notes, etc. The guide said sometimes people bring small organs made of wax or plastic in anticipation of surgery.

I hope this Big Day amounts to ample justification for eating a whole pizza. I had a wonderful time and will soon head to bed so I can bounce out again tomorrow since I am on the tour circuit again.

We slept 16 hour! and did not leave the room until 1:00 this afternoon feeling like new people. The sky was clear with temps in the high 80s and a soft breeze. We decided to do the third city loop with the two-day pass we bought yesterday. The loop took us to the north and west and gave us an overview of life outside the city center. By the time we did this loop Dan needed to head back to the hotel and work on a brief and get ready for the reception tonight. He cabbed it back and I walked slowly taking pictures, having popcorn on the water, and arranging a tour for tomorrow.

Barcelona is really beautiful with wide, tree lined streets and generous sidewalks. There are no really tall buildings, so it’s very bright and not at all claustrophobic. I notice very little smoking for what that’s worth. Something I’ve not seen before are electric scooters, not of the mini-moped type but these are like skateboards with seats. They are driven on the sidewalks or bike paths, not on the street. There are zillions of balconies and more than a few of them have flags draped over the side. Another tidbit is there is a language in this part of Spain, Catalan, which is used in all public schools and local government business is conducted in it. Catalonians are bilingual, however, and move easily from their language to Spanish. We noticed all the signs at the airport were in three languages but we did not recognize the third one. Now we are in the know.

I made dinner out of some almonds and a snack bar I bought earlier and then showered, read, and got rested for my tour tomorrow. Not only is today Mothers Day (here), it is also the one month anniversary of my last day @ ASIS. Boom.

The hour and a half flight passed quickly. The countryside from the air was really picturesque plus toward the end we flew over the Alps and looked down on magnificent snow capped mountains. I hate to admit we had a second breakfast, but we manned up. It was a typical German breakfast of cheese, salami, turkey, and bread with a small fruit salad on the side.

Sixteen hours after leaving home, we got to Barcelona. We were taken immediately with how beautiful the airport is. All done in aqua marine Plexiglas … huge, tasteful, sleek, and presumably designed to evoke the Mediterranean Sea. We were picked up by a lady tasked to do so and whisked away to our hotel, the Pullman Barcelona Skipper. Our room overlooks the pool, an enormous (bigger than big I tell ya) metal, mesh whale, and the sea.

To stay awake, make good use of our time, and because the room was not ready, we promptly bought a two-day, hop-on-hop-off city tour bus pass and headed for the closest bus stop. The day was beautiful and totally clear so perfect to sit on the top deck and listen to commentary on two of the three routes. (We’ll tackle the third route tomorrow.) This fine city of one and a half million deserves, hands down, the blue ribbon for funky, unique, interesting, and varied architecture. Google Gaudy and you’ll see  what I mean. Barcelona was founded by our old friends the Romans, so there are hints of their influence mixed in with the largest statue of  Christopher Columbus in the world, Olympic venues, a large subway system, bike paths, weird and wacky statues and fountains, large and small public parks and green spaces, cruise ship docks, handicap accessible public facilities, and modern art museums (think Picasso, the father of modern art, and native son Miro). Bottom line: you’ve got yourself a unique, alluring  combination.

We took a walk along the water and chose a place for dinner randomly. We were not alone; thousands of people were milling around on the beach, in the cafes, biking, just hanging out, and running. We’re looking forward to going to bed as soon as we can get ourselves there.